Love comes along when it’s least wanted

Jason Guthrie has no time for entanglements—between helping out his widowed brother and teenage nephew and getting his hometown back on its feet, his days are spoken for. But his nights are another story… And when his lovely new neighbor, Honor Brown, reluctantly accepts his help in remodeling her house, Jason finds himself wishing his handyman skills could knock down the defenses she keeps building around herself.

Martial arts teacher Sullivan Dean knows real danger when he sees it—even when it takes the form of the gorgeous blonde helping her friend move in across the street. After putting his wayward past behind him to focus on teaching control to troubled kids, Sullivan has learned to avoid party girls like Lexie Perkins. But Sullivan can’t seem to keep his hands off the real woman behind that flirty charm—or keep his heart from landing at her feet…

Excerpt

What a way to make a first impression. Casting a glare at her friend, Honor said, “Shush it. And for heaven’s sake, stop staring!”

“Too late.” Lexie quickly fluffed her short pale blond hair and adjusted the V-neck of her shirt, tugging it a tad lower. “They’re coming this way.”

“Oh God.” After a deep breath, Honor put the truck in park, turned it off, and—okay, she needed one more breath. “Roll up your window. Pretend you don’t see them. Maybe if we rush into the house real fast, they’ll leave us alo—“

“Hello.”

Cringing, Honor glanced toward Lexie—and found all three men peering into the truck at them. They were each so tall they had to duck down to see in. One guy wore a T-shirt, one a polo, and the other wore no shirt at all.

Combined they gave the impression of masculine curiosity, dark hair and beard shadow. Two of them grinned, and those grins had definite impact.

But the intense expression on the shirtless one about stole Honor’s breath.

She blinked and stared, blinked and stared. Repeat.

The youngest of the three, the one in a T-shirt, laughed. “Busted. No sneaking off now.”

“Colt,” the unsmiling man said in a low, deep voice that teased over her nerve endings and made her heart race. “Pick up the can and spilled garbage, will you?”

Colt grinned. “Yes, sir.” And off he went—with Lexie craning her neck to track him.

The smiling guy propped a shoulder against the side of the window frame and crossed his arms over his chest. With a warning in his tone, said, “He’s seventeen.”

“Who?” Lexie asked.

“My son.” He nodded toward Colt. “Just so you know.”

Jaw dropping, Lexie took another look. “No way. Does Clearbrook have testosterone in the water or something? He looks at least twenty-one.”

Shrugging a thick shoulder, the guy said, “True enough.” Heat shot into Honor’s cheeks. This situation just kept getting worse and worse. Not only had she taken out their can and been overheard conspiring to avoid them, but now Lexie gawked at an underage kid, never mind that the “kid”did look a whole lot older.

“As his dad,” the man continued, “it keeps me on my toes.”

“You sure you’re his dad?” Lexie looked back and forth between both men. “Because he looks more like—“

After winking at Honor, Colt’s father met Lexie’s gaze. “We all inherited his features.”

True, Honor thought. Though the one talking appeared just under six feet, and Cold had to be at least six-three, they shared similar features and overall coloring. Only the eye color was different, with the father’s eyes pale blue instead of the rich dark brown of his son and brother. The shape was the same though, and they each had ridiculously long, dreamy black lashes.

Without really thinking about it, Honor said, “You don’t look old enough to be his dad.”

He shrugged. “I was just out of high school. Call it a youthful indiscretion that I’ve never regretted.”

Honor smiled, enjoying his pride in Colt—until she realized that his brother’s eyes had narrowed, not with menace, but with new awareness as he stared at her mouth.

She couldn’t recall the last time a man had looked at her like that. Might’ve been, oh…never.

Source: Received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Review...

A new twist on the small town books, Don't Tempt Me drew me into it's pages and held me there. I was trying to decide between two books which to read next. You know the drill. Read the backs. Read a page or two of both. Then decide. Right? It didn't happen that way. I read the back of this one. I read a few pages. I read a few more pages. I never checked the other book, just kept reading this one. And that twist on the small town? It's a revitalized town that has a neighborhood of people that are seriously like a small town. So enjoyable.

The blurb can be somewhat confusing as there are two couples. So I was't sure if this was two stories or just what. In fact, Lexie is Honor's best friend. Honor and Jason's story is the main one and takes the majority of the book. Lexie and Sullivan are some icing on the cake. But the two couples are woven together with a group of people, a neighborhood really, that I certainly hope spawns more books. I really want Nathan's story. I want Hogan's story, though I'm pretty sure I know who his girl will be. And I'd love to keep up with the neighborhood including a teenage boy and a certain dog. I love it when I enjoy the secondary characters this much.

The character I enjoyed the most is Jason. The guy is just perfect. He's sexy and a total gentlemen. He helps his neighbors. He helps his brother. He helps his nephew. Best of all, he really isn't into wearing a shirt. HA! It offends him that Honor won't let him help her. It takes him a long time to really understand why. And I got why she felt that way but I did want to slap her a few times. But the best part of Jason's learning curve is that while it didn't understand her reasons, he respected her feelings. I loved that.

Honor has some of the worst possible people related to her. They are out of this world mean. I wanted to yell and glare at them. Seriously people, get yourself together. Yeah, so I can't really explain but trust me that you will want to claw their eyes out. And the wonder is that Honor still tries to be kind to them, keep the peace and not fight. I found her amazing. And I wanted so much for her to be happy, to not have to work so hard, to accept some help and to love a man that clearly fell for her. It's adorable really. And these two together are seriously hot. Yummy Jason cuddles too.

Just as this book drew me into it's pages, it did a great job of keeping me there. I finished it quickly and loved every moment. It's a great book that feels good to read.

“It’s lust at first sight and a double romance in this new novel of neighbors helping neighbors by the prolific Foster”—Kirkus

About Lori Foster:
Since first publishing in January 1996, Lori Foster has become a USA Today, Publisher’s Weekly and New York Times bestselling author. Lori has published through a variety of houses, including Kensington, St. Martin’s, Harlequin, Silhouette, Samhain, and Berkley/Jove. She is currently published with HQN. Visit her online at LoriFoster.com.

I didn't really "want" to, but we had to completely gut our bathroom and redo the whole thing. It was a lot of headache, we actually took down a wall and moved it over for more room. But it was so worth it, I used to cringe every time I was in it before and now it's one of my favorite places in the house. All thanks to my little man smashing his stool into the sink pipes.